Florida Maritime Leadership Coalition : View Article

Apr

Senate Committee Passes Seaport Security Compromise

- By Martha Harbin

The Florida Senate Committee on Military Affairs and Domestic Security on Tuesday passed a seaport security bill designed to find a compromise between the maritime industry, which wants the federal Transportation Workers Identitiy Credential card to be the sole security access card used to gain entry to Florida's public seaports, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with support from Governor Charlie Crist's office, which wants to retain the requirement that port workers undergo a state criminal background check.

Senate committee members reasoned that doing away with the Florida background check requirement would invite a veto of the bill by the governor, leaving the state with the current security clearance process. As a result, Senator Mike Bennett withdrew an amendment that would have stripped away Florida's background check requirement.

A new draft of the legislation will be available later today but some of the features of the compromise include:

Deletes "five times in 90 days" allowance for non-TWIC holders and the definitions of "visitors" and "cruise ship passengers." Those individuals would now be covered by the federal "escort" requirements. For those who do not have a TWIC and require one-time or ocassional access, seaports much provide an escort as defined in the federal law.
Creates a statewide data base, the Statewide Access Eligibility Notification System, that all ports will have access to in order to identify those who have already had a state background check.
Creates a new "affidavit" procedure for those holding a TWIC to speed up their state background check and access to a port.
Those who have a TWIC card and sign an affidavit that his or her TWIC card was not issued under the federal waiver provisions, would only have to have the FCIC background check and be entered into the statewide access eligibility notification system. From that point on, the only requirement would be that the person would have to sign a new affidavit at the point of TWIC renewal every five years. The notification system would automatically update any changes to the FCIC records and send those changes to the ports where the person has access.
State fees for those holding a TWIC would be limited to the FCIC background check and a once-every-five-year maintenance and records retention fee totalling $50. The seaport that adjudicates the worker and completes the initial enrollments process may charge for the actual cost of that process.
Ports requiring separate access credentials may only charge an amount equal to the state charges and must issue cards at five-year intervals as provided in the federal and state requirements.
After initial entry into the Statewide Eligibility Notification System, any additional seaports that grant access are not allowed to charge for additional background checks or annual card renewals.
For those not holding a TWIC, but requiring regular access to restricted areas of the port, a waiver process will be established by FDLE for review.
Conforms state definitions of restricted areas to federal definitions.
Requires a study to update the 2000 Seaport Standards Assessment and report to the legislature by January 1, 2010.

What the compromise language does not do:

Does not delete requirements for statewide minimum standards although law enforcement and maritime interests are dicussing a possible accreditation solutions that would allow for relaxation of the standards.
Does not reduce state disqualifying crimes.
Does not include a mechanism for bypassing state criminal history background checks.

I would appreciate your feedback on this compromise to help determine that position that the Florida Maritime Leadership Coalition will take on this compromise legislation as it moves through the process. At yesterday's meeting, all of the maritime representatives - except FMLC - expressed appreciation to the committee for working to address problems with the current system, which everyone finds unacceptable.

Because FMLC has taken a hard-line "TWIC is Enough" position on this issue, I did not believe that I could fairly represent the position of FMLC members and the maritime-related businesses and employees who have used the FMLC website to take action on this issue. Here are the possible approaches that FMLC could take to the seaport security legislation:

We could, like the other maritime interests, endorse the compromise because it does give relief from the current system of multiple background checks.
We could continue with our "TWIC is Enough" posture and oppose any state background check requirements and if successful mount pressure on the governor to support the legislation and not veto it, though the opportunitites to further amend this legislation during this session are few.
We could oppose the compromise bill and seek its defeat or death on the calendar in hopes of crafting a bill to do away with the Florida requirements in a subsuent special session or in the 2010 session, which would leave the current system in place.

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Thank you for your support of Florida's Maritime Industry.

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